Since then we have a
great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let
us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot
sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as
we are, yet without sin.
Let us therefore draw
near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may
find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16 NAS).
The Temptations of Jesus
There are
several things about this passage that one could mention, but I am going to
concentrate on one aspect only. That is the fact that the High Priest from
heaven is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. He is able to do this because
he had been tempted in every way that we are....
The most prominent passage on this subject is when Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness.
The account
goes like this:The most prominent passage on this subject is when Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness.
Then Jesus was led up
by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting
forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to
him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of
bread.” But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Then the devil took him
to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If
you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will
command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus said to him,
“Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Again, the devil took
him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and
their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall
down and worship me.”
Then Jesus said to him,
“Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and
him only shall you serve.’”
Then the
devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
(Matthew 4:1-11 ESV)
These are
the specific temptations of Jesus that we know about. I am not going to take
the time to analyze each of these temptations and how they relate to our own,
or to look at the tactics of Satan and how Jesus resisted. I only want to speak to the
general issue of temptation itself, and how our Great High Priest has actually
experienced what we go through in our daily lives.
Many people to not believe that this is true. Despite the words written about these temptations, many people do not accept that they could have been real.
Many people to not believe that this is true. Despite the words written about these temptations, many people do not accept that they could have been real.
The Validity of the Temptations
Many do not believe that Jesus actually had to
endure what we endure in temptations. Many take the attitude that since Jesus
was God, he may have been tempted, but certainly not in the same way as you and
I. Their reasoning goes like this:
If Jesus was
really God, as we say that he was and as the Bible teaches, then he could not
actually be tempted to do evil. He’s God! What temptation is there that could
be an enticement to him?
Something
that James writes in his book even seems to agree with this. “It cannot
happen,” James says.
Here is the quote: “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God;’ for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone” (James 1:13 NAS)
Here is the quote: “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God;’ for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone” (James 1:13 NAS)
So then, if
we believe that Jesus was God, even when he lived here among us, how was it that his
temptation by Satan in the wilderness had any significance?
This is one
of those deep, deep subjects that would require a deep, deep discussion. I am
not trying to avoid the question, but a full discussion of it would take some
time, and in the end, we could not really reach any satisfactory conclusions
anyway, since the incarnation of Christ (that is, the time when Jesus became
man), is one of those subjects that we have no capacity to understand.
Eternity
becoming temporal? How do we understand that? As I often say, we have no
ability to even wrap our minds around the concept of eternity, much less
attempt to explain it.
Added to this rather significant ignorance of ours, then we should try to explain how the eternal being at one time chose to live with the limitations of the temporal? I do not think that it would be wise to flatter ourselves by thinking that we could begin to be able to do this.
Added to this rather significant ignorance of ours, then we should try to explain how the eternal being at one time chose to live with the limitations of the temporal? I do not think that it would be wise to flatter ourselves by thinking that we could begin to be able to do this.
The Development of Jesus
Rather than
wade into those waters that are over all of our heads, I will explain only what
we can see to a certain degree. I am only going to quote one
verse and comment briefly on it. The verse is in Luke 2:52. This portion of the
Bible is talking about a time when Jesus was twelve years old. The passage then
makes this concluding comment: “And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and
stature, and in favor with God and with man.”
From this
verse we can see that the boy Jesus, although he was fully divine, he nevertheless
went through a normal process of moral and ethical growth and development, as
well the normal physical growth. In these regards, he was not unlike any other
boy, at least in the manner in which it came about. No doubt he excelled in his
comprehension of these things. The teachers in the synagogue were astounded at
his understanding. However, it seemed that the manner in which he gained this understanding was no so different
than yours or mine.
Jesus was
fully divine while here on earth, but he laid that aside, as Paul explains to
us in the book of Philippians. Jesus became also fully human and lived under
all the physical restrictions that we experience. (Philippians 2:5-8)
Perhaps I
will mention one other verse on this subject: Hebrews 5:8. Here the writer is
speaking of this mystery of the eternal God who willingly became a man for our
sakes. The writer then says this of Jesus, “Although He was a Son, He learned
obedience from the things which He suffered.”
Jesus learned obedience, the text tells us.
These things did not just come to him naturally. He had to go through the
process, just like you and me. I do not think we can assume that these
temptations in the wilderness by Satan were the one and only occasion that he
tried to get Jesus to sin. Surely Satan had not let him alone all of those
years when Jesus was growing up, and even after the temptations in the
wilderness, Luke tells us, “And when the devil had finished every temptation,
he departed from Him until a more opportune time” (Luke 4:13).
Satan was
not finished with him. Do you not think that when Jesus was hanging on the
cross and the soldiers were mocking him and calling out to him, “If you are the
King of the Jews, save yourself!” – do you not think that Satan had his hand in
that temptation? And it was not only the soldiers, but also the chief priests
of the Jewish people who taunted him. (Matthew27:41-44; Luke 23:37)
What Satan Thought
We can have
all the philosophical and theological discussions that we want to on the
subject of the possibility of Jesus to sin, but the plain fact is, Satan
believed he could entice him to fail. In fact, Satan was pretty confident that
he could. He had quite a successful string of successes, beginning in the
Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. That was his most prominent temptation,
because there he had to entice this couple, who at the time, had no unfulfilled
desires in their lives that they should rebel against the Lordship of God.
Satan was able to cause Adam and Eve to sin by using the same enticement that
led to his own rebellion – the desire to be like God.
After that,
it was relatively easy for Satan. He had filled his toolbox so full of useful
enticements to tempt people into being their own masters that he could pull out
any number of temptations. Money, power, sex, popularity, fame, many more.
These are simple tools used for small jobs, but they can be used even for more
difficult temptations. It was with these that Satan came to Jesus.
What God Thought
Let’s look
at this period of temptation when Jesus was in the wilderness. Let us see how
the experience of Jesus can perhaps help us in our own battles with temptation.
First of
all, we need to ask, who actually initiated the occasion for these temptations?
The opening sentence in the account is, “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into
the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1).
It was the
Spirit of God who really initiated the entire scene. We should never think,
when we are tempted, that Satan has full rein over us. He is not controlling
the situation. Satan never controls any situation. Again, this opens up large
potentials for philosophical and theological questions - questions into
which I have put quite a lot of thought in my life.
However, at this point, let me just say that when temptations come to us, God allows them to come to us in order to test our mettle and to give us opportunity for growth. Temptations are not designed to make us fail, as Satan believes, but they are designed to make us stronger. And they will make us stronger if we pass the test.
However, at this point, let me just say that when temptations come to us, God allows them to come to us in order to test our mettle and to give us opportunity for growth. Temptations are not designed to make us fail, as Satan believes, but they are designed to make us stronger. And they will make us stronger if we pass the test.
I need to be
a little careful here with my words, since I do not want to give the
impressions that the temptations themselves come from God. As I mentioned
earlier, James tells us, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being
tempted by God;’ for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not
tempt anyone” (James 1:13 NAS)
But I want
you also to see that James said even before this, “Consider it all joy, my
brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your
faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you
may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4 NAS).
You will
notice that these verses tell us that the “trials” that come our way are there
to test our faith and make us stronger. But when it comes to the “temptations”
that we face, the text tells us that these do not come from God. The
translators of the Greek New Testament have made this distinction between these
two words, trials and temptations, to clarify a subtle
difference.
Actually however, the two words are the very same word in Greek (peirasmos). By this we can see that the trials (temptations) that come our way may come by way of Satan, but God has allowed them to produce endurance in us.
Actually however, the two words are the very same word in Greek (peirasmos).
Doing Some Heavy Lifting
What is
important for us to see that although the temptations that come to us do not come from
God, he allows Satan to test us in certain ways. This does not mean that God relinquishes his control of the situation and Satan
then has free rein over us. Not at all. God has allowed
the temptations to come to us as a part of our spiritual growth process.
It is not so
unlike bodily exercise in this regard. If we begin by bench-pressing one hundred
pounds and continue with this for a period of weeks, we will see that this
weight no longer presents a challenge to us. It now takes a heavier weight to
tire us. We have increased our ability to endure.
In much the
same way, God allows us to pass through various trials and temptations (we see
that the two words are really synonymous in this case), to increase our
endurance in the spiritual realm of our lives. That is why James tells us that
we should consider these trials with joy. They are meant as a training for us.
The Trials of Job
I think
often of the example of Job of the Old Testament. When we speak of trials and
temptations, Job’s example is often the gold standard. It is the standard
against which all others are measured.
Who was it that initiated these trials for Job? Was it that Satan saw an opportunity to bring him down and attempted to do so before God knew what was going on?
Who was it that initiated these trials for Job? Was it that Satan saw an opportunity to bring him down and attempted to do so before God knew what was going on?
Look at the
introduction into the temptations of Job. It was the Lord who said to Satan,
“Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth,
a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil” (Job 1:8
NAS).
As we read
the book of Job, we see that it may have been Satan who brought the trials to
Job, but it was the Lord who gave him permission to do so. Satan meant it to
bring Job down so that Job would curse the Lord, but God meant it so that Job
would be made yet the stronger for it all.
In the end, that it was all of the temptations did. Job’s faith became ever stronger.
In the end, that it was all of the temptations did. Job’s faith became ever stronger.
One of my
favorite verses of the Bible is what Job said. “God knows the way that I take,
and when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10).
The Trials of Trees
I was
thinking about all of these things concerning the temptations of Jesus one day
many years ago as I was walking through the woods. As I walked, I came upon an
area where the trees had been toppled by a strong wind some time during the
summer. It was not a large patch of ground, but the whole area had been
flattened – well, almost flattened. There were trees lying all around like
someone had dropped a handful of huge pick-up sticks there, except for one
solitary tree. That tree had many limbs broken, but the tree itself stood
straight and tall.
Of all those
trees in that area, which of them do you suppose felt the greatest force of the
wind? Of course the answer is obvious. As the wind speed increased, the tops of
the trees began to sway violently until some of them could no longer resist the
force of the gale and began to fall. The ones with some defect or perhaps a
poor root system fell first, then other, more healthy trees. Depending upon
when they fell during the storm, it was up to that point when they felt the
wind’s fury.
But only the
solitary tree knew the full fury. It had withstood when all the others had
failed. It labored under the strongest squall of the gale, it lost some of its
limbs and even most of its leaves, but its massive trunk and firm root system
held strong.
Winds that Come to Us
Do you think
that you have ever withstood temptation that approached the fury of Satan’s
temptation to Jesus? Have you ever wondered why not? If Satan had his way with
us, you can be sure that he would unleash his full fury today. But the Bible
tells us that “God is faithful, and will not allow us to be tempted beyond what
we are able [to withstand]." And not only that, God will always provide a way
for us to escape from any temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13)
The truth
is, even with this, you and I have been uprooted and broken off a number of
times, but Jesus has remained strong. There has been no wind, nor shall there
ever be a wind, that can topple him. It is that same strength of character and
resolve that is available to help us in our times of temptation.
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